Kubira
Kubira |Debut= Manga: Chapter 4 |Voice Actors= |Gender= Male |Hair Color= Black |Eye Color= Black |Nationality= Unknown |Affiliation= Striders Strider Matic Unit |Strider Rank= A |Weapon= Knife |Fighting Style= }} Kubira ( ) is a character exclusive to the Strider Hiryu manga, as one of two enemy Striders under Matic's orders. He's named after one of the Twelve Heavenly Generals from Buddhism, also written Kumbhīra or Kompira, a deity related to the seas. Member of Matic's Strider Unit, Kubira was a fellow student with Hiryu in training schoolWada, Tatsumi (November 10, 1989). Strider Hiryû. Chapter 4, Pg. 123. Kadokawa Shoten. ISBN 4-04-713009-5.. He's an imposing Strider with a wild and monstrous appearance product of body modifications, giving him reptilian features such as scaly skin and sharp teeth, and increasing his abilities underwater. Kubira is a cruel and efficient murderer, but he's also cautious when confronting his targets, planning in advance how to ambush them and taking any advantage possible. Kubira is well aware of Hiryu's superhuman strength and mastery of the Cypher, as he witnessed during their time in training school, and even confessed to have feared Hiryu back then. He's, apparently, confident now that his new skills will make up for that, though. Story Manga Arana and Kubira were given orders from Matic to take care of Hiryu and Kain as they traveled the Amazon jungle aiming to reach one of Enterprise's institutes. After Arana's defeat, Kubira awaits for them on the Amazon River. Just as Hiryu and Kain are crossing through the waters, Kubira snatch Kain from below and knocks him by slashing his stomach, spreading blood on the water so the nearby crocodiles would react to its scent and devour him. With the crocodiles on their way towards Kain, Kubira stops Hiryu on his tracks and attacks him. Kubira drags Hiryu underwater on a chokehold, where Hiryu is unable to use the Cypher due to its electric properties. He has planned it this way, knowing Hiryu's mastery of the weapon. However, just as he's about to attack, Hiryu is able to break free of his hold and return to surface. Forced to resurface too, Kubira looks around for Hiryu. Taking his chance, Hiryu jumps onto him and stabs him in the chest with his Cypher and then activates it, sending an electric discharge through Kubira while at the same time stopping the crocodiles from reaching Kain. Before dying, Kubira calls Hiryu a fool, believing he'll die with him now that he used the Cypher in the middle of the river. Hiryu, however, used a wire he picked up from his battle with Arana earlier to cling onto a nearby tree, avoiding the current surge. Strider (NES) Although Kubira appears to be absent in the NES adaptation, crocodile enemies appear in the swamps of Africa. These enemies are very simple, only coming out of the water to damage Hiryu through contact. Although they can't be damaged, they can be easily avoided by carefully moving and jumping over them. As the area also features Arana's appearance as a generic stage enemy, it is possible this enemy is intended to be either Kubira himself, or the crocodiles he used to attack Kain. Skills and Abilities Due to his enhancements, Kubira has greatly increased strength and stamina, being capable of feats such as swimming all the way from Africa to the Amazon without being visibly tiredWada, Tatsumi (November 10, 1989). Strider Hiryû. Chapter 4, Pg. 122. Kadokawa Shoten. ISBN 4-04-713009-5.. He's also capable of breathing and moving unrestricted underwater. As a result Kubira has a greater advantage when fighting underwater. While submerged, Kubira can spring ambushes while hiding on water, and drag his enemies under with him, where he has the upper hand. He takes note of any advantage he has at his disposal before battle, and uses any exploits that benefits him such as using crocodiles to kill Kain or preventing Hiryu from using his best weapon. Gallery Kubira-fullbody.png References Category:Characters Category:Striders Category:Foes Category:Manga Characters